This invention relates generally to telecommunications conferencing and, more particularly, to telecommunications conferencing in which users"" individual telephone lines are associated with the same users"" personal computer screens.
Conference call systems that integrate personal computers with telephones often need to establish an operational association between a user""s computer screen and that user""s telephone line. This association is required in order to give users authenticated control of their telephone lines from their computers, so they can initiate telephone operations such as hang-up, mute, and hold on their own lines without necessarily being able to initiate such operations on the lines of other participants. In addition, the association authenticates that the participant controlling the data connection also has access to the telephone connection.
Unlike computer-controlled telephone sets and LAN (Local Area Network) controlled PBXs (Private Branch Exchanges), some conference call systems implement Internet-based services that have no fixed operational associations with any particular telephone sets. In addition to being connected to the Internet, these conference call systems are connected to the public switched telephone network (PSTN) through standard interfaces to a carrier""s switch. Although these systems do not have any pre-set operational associations with any particular telephone, they can dynamically establish connections with any telephone on the PSTN during the course of making or receiving telephone calls.
In the past, systems have typically solved the operational association problem by pre-registering each participant with a unique ID (identification). When participants dial in to the conference bridge, they must not only enter their conference codes but must also enter their unique personal IDs, using the same personal ID when connecting to the system from a computer over the data network. Unregistered participants cannot be identified. Drawbacks to this approach are that participants must be pre-registered to enjoy the full benefits of the user interface and must also remember their personal identification numbers.
This invention enables a conference call system to establish efficiently an operational association between a particular user""s computer on a public data network (e.g., a web browser on the Internet world wide web) and that same user""s telephone on the public switched telephone network (PSTN). Advantages over the prior art include the following:
1) Participants do not have to pre-register with the system in order to enjoy its full capabilities.
2) Participants do not have to remember a personal identification number from one conference to the next.
3) The conference host is allowed to broadcast e-mail with the same conference code to all participants, thus avoiding any need to send individual e-mail to each participant with a unique access code.
The problem of establishing an operational association between a user""s web browser and telephone line may be classified into four sub-problems, depending upon two factors:
1) Does the user call the bridge (dial-in) or does the bridge call the user (dial-out)?
2) Does the user establish the web connection first or the telephone connection first?
This classification leads to the four scenarios:
1) Web then dial-in: First the users establish a connection to the conference service using a web browser, and then they use their telephone to dial in to the conference system.
2) Dial-in then web: First the users use their telephone to dial into the conference system, and then they connect to it later with their web browser.
3) Dial-out then web: First the users receive and answer a telephone call that was initiated by the conference system, and then they later establish a web connection to the conference system.
4) Web then dial-out: First the users establish a web connection to the conference system and then the conference system initiates a telephone call to the user""s telephone.
In accordance with the invention, a participant""s telephone connection to a conference call system is operationally associated with a data connection from that participant""s computer screen to a conference call system which establishes voice connections between itself and multiple conference call participants by: (1) generating a unique temporary code when a data connection is established between the participant and said conference call system; (2) displaying the code over the data connection to the participant on that participant""s computer screen; and (3) instructing the participant to enter the code over his telephone connection to the conference call system.
From one aspect of the invention, the temporary code is a PIN (personal identification number) code unique within an individual conference call.
From another aspect of the invention, the temporary code is a match code unique across all active conferences and valid only for a limited period of time.
From yet another aspect of the invention, the temporary code is a language password or phrase which may be spoken into the participant""s telephone and recognized by the system using speech recognition technology.
For the web then dial-in scenario, in accordance with the invention, the operational association between the participant""s telephone and data connections is accomplished by: (1) establishing a data connection between the participant""s computer screen and the conference system; (2) receiving a conference access code from the participant for a specific conference call; (3) generating a PIN (personal identification number) code unique to the specific conference; (4) sending the PIN code over the participant""s data connection to the participant""s computer; (5) displaying dialing instructions on the participant""s computer screen explaining to the participant how to enter the conference; (6) dialing into the conference call according to the displayed dialing instructions; (7) establishing an operational association between the participant""s data and telephone connections; and (8) displaying a conference control web page specific to the participant and the participant""s telephone connection.
For the dial-in then web scenario, in accordance with the invention, the operational association between the participant""s telephone and data connections is accomplished by: (1) dialing the participant""s telephone into the conference call using a designated telephone number and conference access code, the system allowing the participant""s telephone line into the conference call with no associated data connection; (2) if no personal identification number (PIN) is entered, the system informing the participant with a voice prompt that he can use his computer to see more detailed information about the conference; (3) the system allowing the participant from the conference web site to use a computer mouse to click on a specific button in order to view the conference call; (4) after the participant clicks on a view button, the system generating a temporary match code unique across all conferences for a limited period of time and displaying instructions to the participant on how to use this match code; and (5) after the participant enters the match code on his telephone line within the limited period of time, then making an operational association between the participant""s data connection and the participant""s telephone connection and displaying a conference control web page.
For the dial-out then web scenario, in accordance with the invention, the operational association between the participant""s telephone and data connections is accomplished by: (1) entering a telephone number into the system and commanding the conference call system to dial out to the participant""s telephone; (2) instructing the participant from the conference web site to click on a specific button in order to view the conference call; (3) generating a temporary match code unique across all conferences for a limited period of time and displaying instructions over the participant""s data connection on how to use the match code; and (4) after the participant enters the match code on his telephone line in time, then making an operational association between the participant""s data connection and the participant""s telephone connection and displaying a conference control web page.
For the web then dial-out scenario, in accordance with the invention, the operational association between the participant""s telephone and data connections is accomplished by: (1) establishing a data connection between the participant""s computer and the conference call system; (2) entering a conference access code to authenticate the participant with the system and to identify which conference call the participant is attempting to join; (3) entering the participant""s own telephone number and commanding the conference call to dial out to his telephone immediately or, if the conference is not scheduled to start yet, commanding the system to dial out to this telephone number at the appropriate time after at least one other person has joined the conference; (4) after the participant answers his telephone and confirms that he wishes to enter the conference, operationally associating the participant""s data connection with the telephone connection the participant initiated; and (5) showing the participant his conference control web page.